SONGKHLA, Thailand – Abject poverty and domestic violence were daily realities for Somsak Chuchuykhom as he was growing up in the border province of Narhatiwat. Regarded as his family’s “bad and stupid” son, he was put to work at the age of 7 selling candy on the train at night.

From the start, the odds of Somsak making something out of his life were never very good. A poor student, and growing up in an abusive environment, Somsak started smoking marijuana at 13, and soon after moved on to methamphetamines. At 18, he was serving two years in a detention centre for the possession and sale of methamphetamines, and his future prospects looked grim.